Vietnamese flag at City Hall angers protesters

The city’s decision to fly Vietnam’s flag at Ottawa City Hall on Tuesday drew the ire of protesters who say the flag is offensive to people who fled Vietnam and settled in Canada.

The flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a red flag with a gold star, flew outside city hall in recognition of the country’s national day.

Flying another country’s flag is a routine practice at city hall, where over the course of a year 120 flags are flown to commemorate national days. But Tuesday’s protesters, some of whom fled Vietnam during and after the war, say the flag represents a communist regime and that the city is glorifying it.

“The flag of the communist regime being flown here today is something that represents a government that denies human rights,” said Kalvin Nhan of Canadian Youth for Human Rights in Vietnam, which organized the protest.

“We don’t believe that it should be flown side by side with the Canadian flag, something that represents freedom and hope.”

That group organized a gathering of about 100 peaceful protesters, many of them who came from Toronto and Montreal, at the human rights monument on Elgin Street on Tuesday afternoon. Many of them carried signs comparing the Vietnamese flag to the Nazi flag.

Around 100 demonstrators walk to Ottawa City Hall a to protest the City of Ottawa’s decision to fly the communist flag of Vietnam to mark the country’s day of independence. The protesters would like to see the city honour the Freedom Flag of Vietnam.Darren Brown /
Ottawa Citizen

Protesters waved a gold flag with three red stripes, which is called the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom flag. It’s used by many Vietnamese expatriates, and it was the flag of South Vietnam prior to the fall of Saigon in 1975.

Phat Nguyen, 60, who fled Vietnam by boat in late 1982, said seeing the flag evokes the emotions he felt decades ago, and brings back memories of the suffering he witnessed.

“We’re here to demonstrate against the City of Ottawa because they think they fly the Vietnam communist flag doesn’t have any effect, but actually, it really affects us,” he said. “By flying the flag like this, it doesn’t make us feel good. Why do they have to fly the flag?”

Under city policy, any country with which Canada has diplomatic relations is invited to provide the city’s protocol office with a flag to fly outside city hall on that country’s national day. The city defers to the Department of Foreign Affairs on which flags the Canadian government recognizes.

“Right now the policy that we apply is we will fly the flag of any nation that is recognized by the Government of Canada,” said Cathy Bowles, the city’s chief of protocol. “It’s a practice that has continued over the years to recognize our diverse population, and to recognize the number of embassies that make Ottawa their home.”

Bowles said Tuesday’s controversy was “unexpected” because this is the eighth year the flag has flown at city hall. “We have flown it since 2006, and this is the first year that we’ve experienced resistance.”

Kien Nguyen flies the Freedom Flag of Vietnam during a demonstration over the City of Ottawa’s decision to fly the communist flag of Vietnam to mark the country’s day of independence.Darren Brown /
Ottawa Citizen

Luu Tien, 93, looks on during a demonstration at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa over the City of Ottawa’s decision to fly the communist flag of Vietnam to mark the country’s day of independence.Darren Brown /
Ottawa Citizen

Quoc-Viet Le-The, 22, told the crowd on Tuesday that he thinks “the City of Ottawa has no business in international affairs.” He started a petition last week opposing the city’s flying the flag, which he called “absolutely offensive to our people.” It had gathered nearly 2,800 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.

Le-The appealed to Mayor Jim Watson to lead a policy change to ensure the flag doesn’t fly again next year, and that the freedom and heritage flag flies instead on April 30 to commemorate the fall of Saigon.

Watson was unavailable for an interview. But spokesman Brook Simpson said, “This is an apolitical process and one in which the Mayor is not involved.

“Mayor Watson has great respect for the Vietnamese community in Ottawa and proclaimed April 30th, 2014, as “Black April Day” in the City of Ottawa,” Simpson said.

That day recognizes the anniversary of the 1975 fall of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City.

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